Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has been called up by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Letourneau-Leblond has two points and 137 penalty minutes in 31 AHL games. Although he would be a good source of penalty minutes if he stuck with Pittsburgh, the odds of that happening aren't great. Wed, Jan 15, 2014 10:24:00 AM

The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to the minors.

The feisty Letourneau-Leblond inked an AHL contract in late August but was invited to Penguins camp. He had three goals, five assists and 98 penalty minutes in 33 games with Anaheim's minor-league affiliate in Norfolk last season. Also sent to the minors were: Jayson Megna, Adam Payerl, Scott Harrington and Philip Samuelsson.

The Calgary Flames have placed Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond on waivers.

The Flames acquired Letourneau-Leblond from the New Jersey Devils in July for a fifth round pick. He has no points and 10 penalty minutes in three games this season. If he clears waivers, he'll be sent to the AHL.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has served his suspension and is eligible to play against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

Letourneau-Leblond was being punished for hitting Vancouver forward Matt Clackson from behind during a preseason contest. "I’m happy it’s out of the way," Letourneau-Leblond said. "But I just kept doing what I had to do, practising hard and now I’m ready to play." That being said, Letourneau-Leblond skated on a line with two injured Flames players during Sunday's practice, so there's a good chance that Letourneau-Leblond will spend Monday's game in the press box.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was satisfied with the explanation of his suspension from Brendan Shanahan.

Shanahan is now the NHL executive responsible for discipline in league and his suspension of Letourneau-Leblond was his first this season. Shanahan explained the reasoning behind the five game suspension which includes one regular season game. "I think it's a good thing," Letourneau-Leblond said yesterday. "If you want to send a message and for the guys to learn from that, the best way is to explain it, and I think Mr. Shanahan does a good job." Letourneau-Leblond has value only in pools that use penalty minutes as a category.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has been suspended for four preseason games and one regular-season contest for violating the NHL's re-written rule on boarding.

The rule change focuses more on the resulting contact with the boards rather than the point of contact. Letourneau-Leblond hit Vancouver forward Matt Clackson from behind in the third period of Tuesday's exhibition game, which earned him a minor penalty for boarding. "Letourneau-Leblond took a direct route toward Clackson, hit him squarely from behind into the boards and drove through the check high and hard," said NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. "Clackson's back was turned toward Letourneau-Leblond well before the contract, requiring that Letourneau-Leblond avoid or minimize the check completely. He did neither."

The New Jersey Devils have sent Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to Calgary in exchange for a 2012 fifth round pick.

Letourneau-Leblond is worth keeping an eye on during training camp, because he could be the NHL's penalty minutes leader if he earns a spot on the Calgary Flames fourth line. He had 334 penalty minutes in 64 AHL games last season to go along with another 21 in just two games with the Devils.

Letourneau-Leblond was placed on waivers after he received a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of Saturday's game. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello criticized Letourneau-Leblond's actions, saying that he needed to be "more intelligent than that."

Suspended forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has been placed on waivers by the Devils.

"It had to do with making a decision as far as whether we add another different type of forward and depending on the injuries," GM Lou Lamoriello said. "But I didn't like what transpired at the end of the game in that situation. Five minutes left to play, an instigating penalty, you know it's a suspension. And he's going to miss a game. You have to be more intelligent than that." Lamoriello wouldn't say if Leblond will be assigned to the minors if he cleared, but Adam Mair could be close to finally signing with the Devils should that happen.

As expected, Devils` enforcer Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblanc was suspended for one game by the NHL on Sunday.

The suspension is an automatic one under league rules due to the fact that Letourneau-Leblanc instigated a fight in the final five minutes of Saturday`s game against Washington. If he can stay in the lineup, the Devils` forward is a decent source of penalty minutes.

Depth Charts

Sidney Crosby records two assists in the Penguins' 5-1 win against Florida.

Crosby went through a stretch where he was held off the scoresheet for five of six contests. That's about as bad things get for Crosby, but it's behind him now. He's recorded points in back-to-back games and still has an incredible 61 points in 56 contests.

Evgeni Malkin was named the third star of the week for the period ending Mar. 1.

He produced two goals and four assists in two games. Malkin extended his current point streak to five straight contests. He has racked up three points in each of his last three outings. Malkin now has 64 points in 57 games.

Brandon Sutter has an assist in a 2-1 shootout loss versus Chicago on Sunday.

Sutter has 11 goals and 21 points in 54 contests in 2014-15. He's occasionally served on one of the Penguins' top two lines this season and during those stretches he's been noteworthy from a fantasy perspective. However, he's currently serving as a third liner, which makes it hard for us to recommend him in standard leagues.

If you were looking for penalty minutes from Maxim Lapierre this season, you have been sadly disappointed.

Lapierre has averaged around a penalty minute a game in his last four seasons with one big season of 130 in 82 games in 2011-12. But this season has been different as he has only 18 in 53 games. He changed how he checked players after getting a five game suspension last season for a hit on Dan Boyle, then of the Sharks. "It’s never a good feeling to hurt somebody," Boyle said. "So I kind of have slowed down a little bit. Not on the physical game. I still play the heavy game on the forecheck and things. But I don’t gamble anymore on the hit unless the guy is facing me. I didn’t like that feeling of seeing someone on the stretcher because of my hit. Now, I’m just trying to do the same job on the forecheck with no gambles."

Kunitz snapped a five-game point drought. He has 16 goals and 37 points in 53 contests in 2014-15. He'll have a tough time reaching the 60-point mark for the second straight campaign, but we anticipate him having a strong finish to 2014-15 as the Penguins compete for the Metropolitan Division title.

David Perron scored a goal in the Pittsburgh's 2-0 victory against Edmonton.

The Oilers traded Perron to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first-round pick. Going from Edmonton to the Penguins' top line has naturally led to Perron seeing a significant boost in offensive production. He has seven goals and 10 points in 13 contests in 2014-15.

Daniel Winnik was impressive in his first practice with the Penguins and will make his debut on Sunday.

Winnik will play alongside Steve Downie and Brandon Sutter. "It's only one practice," Sutter said. "But you can just kind of tell that Winnik's a smart guy, that he'll be able to adjust pretty quickly. Hopefully chemistry will come." Winnik was with Toronto this season and had seven goals and 25 points in 58 games. He is not worth picking up at this time in anything but the deepest of pools but he was a plus-15 with the lowly Leafs.

Beau Bennett recorded an assist in Pittsburgh's 2-1 shootout loss to Chicago.

Bennett has three goals and 10 points in 23 contests in 2014-15. He has the potential to be a solid offensive contributor, but his raise in Pittsburgh has been consistently sidetracked by injuries. He's still worth keeping in mind for the 2015-16 campaign though as he should take a step forward if he can finally stay healthy.

Penguins over two periods to get one by Corey Crawford but they eventually beat him. Beau Bennett did all the hard work entering the Chicago zone and Spaling finished the play off. The 26-year-old has now scored in two of his last three contests. Pittsburgh's third line of Spaling, Brandon Suter and Beau Bennett played well in the game. Spaling now has nine goals and 22 points in 52 games in his first season as a Penguin. Both David Perron and Sidney Crosby scored in the shootout, but it wasn't enough as the Blackhawks scored on all three of their attempts.

Blake Comeau enjoyed a three-point night in the Penguins’ 4-2 win over the Blues on Saturday night.

Comeau scored twice and assisted on Brandon Sutter’s third-period marker. He has 14 goals and 25 points in 38 games, so while he’s been a steal for those who took a chance on him, he’s probably hard to spin off. Patric Hornqvist picked up the other goal. Robert Bortuzzo had 12 penalty minutes.

Steve Downie will be scratched from Sunday's contest with the Florida Panthers as Zach Sill fills in again.

This is the second consecutive night in which Sill has played in place of Downie, and unless Downie is nursing an injury, or Sill is getting one last work-out, it appears the veteran ruffian is in Coach Johnston's doghouse.

Pascal Dupuis revealed on Friday that he played five games with a blood clot.

Dupuis was diagnosed with blood clots on November 19 and at the time it was thought that he would be out of action for at least six months. Dupuis wrote in Derek Jeter's The Players Tribune that he would resume his career.

Christian Ehrhoff won't be in Pittsburgh's lineup for their game against Columbus on Sunday.

It's unclear why Ehrhoff isn't playing in this game. No injury had been reported. Beat reporter Josh Yohe also mentioned that Ehrhoff looked fine after yesterday's practice. We will give you an update as soon as the relevant information is provided.

Paul Martin missed practice on Saturday with an undisclosed injury but is expected to play on Sunday.

The veteran defenseman has two goals and 13 points in 47 games this season with a plus-14 rating. He was apparently hurt in the Detroit game Wednesday. "Then we went to Ottawa, and we were kind of concerned about where he was at, but he played well in that game," coach Mike Johnston said. "He was up in the 20s for minutes. He surpassed where we thought he was going to be for that game.
"It's not an injury where it's anything we have to be overly concerned about, but he needed a rest day (Saturday), for sure." If he is unable to go on Sunday, now you'll know why.

The Anaheim Ducks have shipped Ben Lovejoy to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Simon Despres.

Anaheim acquired Lovejoy from the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2013 in exchange for a 2014 fourth-round pick that became Anthony Angelo. He has a goal and 11 points in 40 games with the Ducks in 2014-15.

Olli Maatta (shoulder) has officially been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Maatta's fate was reported earlier on Monday and the Penguins confirmed it Tuesday night. He will need to undergo his second shoulder surgery in just eight months. That's on top of the fact that he needed to have a cancerous tumor on his thyroid gland removed and suffered from the mumps this season.

Rob Scuderi is making a difference this season on the Penguins blueline.

The veteran defenseman struggled upon his return last year but has been a solid veteran this season on a depleted Penguins blueline. "This guy is such a professional," assistant coach Gary Agnew said. "Having that kind of presence is huge for us. It really is. He's been outstanding all season." Fantasy-wise he has only eight assists and a plus-nine rating but that is not why the penguins inked him to a four-year deal last season.

Derrick Pouliot will play for the Penguins on their western Canadian road trip, Coach Johnston has confirmed.

The former 2012 eighth overall draft pick has already had a cup of coffee with the Pens, playing eight games mostly in this past December. He's compiled a goal, three points, three blocks, six hits, and eight shots while averaging 17:33 of ice time per game. He's also amassed 23 points in 28 games down on the farm. Consider picking up the highly touted prospect as the Pens visit the Oilers, Flames, and Canucks.

Fleury has now won three straight starts beating Florida, Washington and the Jackets in the process. The 30-year-old allowed just one goal through 40 minutes but he allowed two goals in the third with the Penguins up 5-1. Fleury has a 29-13-6 record with a 2.19 goals-against-average, a .924 save percentage and a league-leading eight shutouts.

Thomas Greiss made 21 saves in the Penguins’ 4-2 win over St. Louis on Saturday night.

Greiss gave up both goals later in the third period. He has won three of his past four games, though this is by far his best start of the four. He has a 2.82 goals-against and .906 save percentage this season.